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How to move all original files from 1 collection to new folder keeping the folder structure in tact

Explorer ,
Oct 26, 2020 Oct 26, 2020

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I have 5 different hard drives with my original images in a folder structure by year, month dan day.

My collections are set up by subject, but when I travel I want to work in my collections and order prints for which I need the original files, but this means I have to bring all 5 hard drives. I know I can export a collection as a catalogue, but this does not help me, because I like to work in only 1 LR catalogue on not have to switch to work on those originals.

Is there a way to move all my original files from 1 collection on to 1 hard drive, without loosing the original folder structure by date?

 

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LEGEND ,
Oct 26, 2020 Oct 26, 2020

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You can move the photos entirely within Lightroom Classic to whatever drive you want them to be on. Select them in the Collections (or select the entire collection with Ctrl-A) and then drag them into whatever folder in the Library Module Folder Panel you want them to be in, on whatever disk you want them to be in. You will receive an ominous warning about how this cannot be undone, but you should click on Move anyway (and the warning isn't really as ominous as it sounds).

 

Please try this first with a small and meaningless collection (take two photos of the inside of your refrigerator, put them in a Collection) to make sure you are doing it right.

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Explorer ,
Oct 26, 2020 Oct 26, 2020

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Thank you dj, but I think this way I will loose all reference to the orginal folder they are in now, so they will not be part of the date folder structure anymore. The question is how to keep them on a seperate disc but still in the folder structure they are in now? 

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LEGEND ,
Oct 26, 2020 Oct 26, 2020

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Yes, they would all be in one folder.

 

The only way to keep the folder structure intact is to create new folders on the separate drive one by one, and move the desired photos into each of the new folders as appropriate. Not really a task I would like to perform, especially if there is a lot of photos in the collection.

 

This illustrates an incompatibility in using both collections and folders for certain aspects of your organization, when it becomes necessary to move some photos from a folder on one drive (but not all photos in that folder) to another drive.

 

I'm not sure there is really a solution that meets all the requirements and is simple to perform as well.

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Explorer ,
Oct 26, 2020 Oct 26, 2020

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Thank you, I guess there is no solution to my question. I will have to ask for another solution, being that I make actual duplicates, not virtual copies, and keep the old originals in their place.

 

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LEGEND ,
Oct 26, 2020 Oct 26, 2020

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But somehow you have to point Lightroom Classic to the duplicates, and this would have to be done photo by photo, or folder by folder.

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Explorer ,
Oct 26, 2020 Oct 26, 2020

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I do not have the solution to this, but it seems having your images on 5 different hard drives, requires you to have the actual hard drives to work on your images and print, so if anyone has a good workflow for this, would love to hear it. The more images I have the more hard discs I will be required to bring while traveling. Maybe archiving folders you know you do not need and have keep active folders on 1 drive..Trying to find the best workflow with the year-month-day folder structure and utilizing collections to the fullest.

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